Apple and IBM announced a strategic partnership to go after enterprise customers. Some thought the news was uneventful, but investors took the news as a bad sign for BlackBerry and hammered its stock price. BlackBerry shares were down 9.4% yesterday. BlackBerry has been a star this year, peaking about 50% up for the year. BlackBerry has been getting hit from all sides and the company did not need this kind of news from Apple.
BlackBerry tried to down play the news and released their own statement.
But the writing is on the wall. Just as BlackBerry is focusing on enterprise, the world's largest tech company has just announced plans to go more aggressively into that same market.
"It is not a crushing blow at this early stage, but it is a negative for BlackBerry," said IDC analyst John Jackson. "There can be little question that it is unwelcome, if not entirely unexpected news."
BlackBerry tried to down play the news and released their own statement.
"The news that Apple is partnering with IBM to expand into the enterprise mobility market only underscores the ongoing need for secure end-to-end enterprise mobility solutions like those BlackBerry has delivered for years," said the company in a brief statement.
But the writing is on the wall. Just as BlackBerry is focusing on enterprise, the world's largest tech company has just announced plans to go more aggressively into that same market.